Genome sharing

ABSTRACT

Sharing data is disclosed. In some cases, sharing data includes receiving a request to share data from a first account to a second account, receiving an indication of a plurality of first account profiles associated with the first account to share with the second account, and establishing sharing from the plurality of first account profiles to the second account, wherein sharing comprises the second account having read access to a subset of nonpublic data associated with the plurality of first account profiles.

CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/288,014, entitled GENOME SHARING, filed Oct. 14, 2008, whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/070,321,entitled GENOME SHARING, filed Mar. 19, 2008, U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/999,148, entitled GENETIC INFORMATION SITE, filedOct. 15, 2007, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/999,064,entitled GENOME EXPLORER, filed Oct. 15, 2007, all of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recently, interest in genetics and genetic testing has risen asincreasing amounts of research show how an individual's geneticinformation can influence aspects of a person's ancestry, appearance,behavior, and physiology. Genetic information can be made available toan individual via the Internet. To prevent others from viewing personaldata, the individual is typically required to login using a password inorder to gain access to his data. In some cases, an individual may wishto share his personal data with one or more other individuals, such asfamily members. However, current techniques for sharing personal dataare basic and have limited capability. As such, improvements in thesharing of personal data would be useful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the followingdetailed description and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system forsharing genetic or other data.

FIGS. 1B-1D illustrate examples embodiments of interfaces for displayinggenetic data from multiple users.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an account in aweb application that allows sharing of personal data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of sharing ofpersonal data.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forinitiating and establishing sharing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interface for asharing invitation.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interface forresponding to a sharing invitation.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forestablishing sharing.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forestablishing sharing of multiple profiles.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process ofestablishing one way or unidirectional sharing.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forestablishing sharing using sharing level(s).

FIGS. 11A-11B are diagrams illustrating an embodiment of records invarious databases in a system for sharing genetic or other data.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a sharing table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as aprocess; an apparatus; a system; a composition of matter; a computerprogram product embodied on a computer readable storage medium; and/or aprocessor, such as a processor configured to execute instructions storedon and/or provided by a memory coupled to the processor. In thisspecification, these implementations, or any other form that theinvention may take, may be referred to as techniques. In general, theorder of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within thescope of the invention. Unless stated otherwise, a component such as aprocessor or a memory described as being configured to perform a taskmay be implemented as a general component that is temporarily configuredto perform the task at a given time or a specific component that ismanufactured to perform the task. As used herein, the term ‘processor’refers to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing coresconfigured to process data, such as computer program instructions.

A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention isprovided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate theprinciples of the invention. The invention is described in connectionwith such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to anyembodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims andthe invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications andequivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the followingdescription in order to provide a thorough understanding of theinvention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and theinvention may be practiced according to the claims without some or allof these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technicalmaterial that is known in the technical fields related to the inventionhas not been described in detail so that the invention is notunnecessarily obscured.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system forsharing genetic or other data. In the example shown, system 100 is shownto include application 102, account database 104, genotype database 106and phenotype database 108. Application 102 interacts with accountdatabase 104, genotype database 106 and phenotype database 108 to accessdata associated with an individual. Account database 104 containsidentifying data associated with individuals, such as names, addresses,etc. Genotype database 106 contains data associated with theindividuals' genetics, such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)data, including calls for various SNPs or genetic test results.Phenotype database 108 includes data associated with the individuals'phenotypes, such as hair color, eye color, birth date, or medicalconditions. Phenotype data can be obtained based on user survey(s) orother interactive tools. A phenotype includes any observablecharacteristic of an organism, such as its morphology, development,biochemical or physiological properties, or behavior. Phenotypes areinfluenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

In some embodiments, application 102 is a web application that is partof a website that allows individuals to view their genetic and otherpersonal data. An example of such a website is www.23andme.com. Anindividual may use such a website to ascertain descriptions of certaintraits he has and the genes associated with them. For example, thewebsite www.23andme.com provides an odds calculator that can combinegenetic and phenotypic information, age, and ethnicity to get an idea ofwhich common health concerns are most likely to affect the individual.Such an odds calculator may be used by an individual to determineinformation for an individual such as his likelihood of developing type2 diabetes. Additionally, such a website may allow an individual todetermine if he has a particular gene, such as the one that allows fortasting the bitter flavor of broccoli.

In some embodiments, application 102 allows an individual to share atleast a subset of his genetic and other personal data with other users.FIGS. 1B-1D illustrate examples embodiments of interfaces for displayinggenetic data from multiple users. For example, in FIGS. 1B-1C, a usermay view descriptions of traits or odds associated with different healthconcerns associated with other individuals. In another example, FIG. 1D,a “Genome Browser” interface allows a user to view his raw genome dataand the raw genome data of other individuals with which sharing of rawgenome data has been established. In some embodiments, the raw genomedata for multiple individuals are displayed together.

Although databases, records, fields, rows, and columns may be describedherein, in various embodiments, any appropriate technique for storingdata may be used. A database is an example of a set of stored data. Invarious embodiments, any appropriate set of stored data may be usedbesides a database. A set of stored data may include a data repositoryor data store, such as a database or a file. A set of stored data mayinclude one or more data structures, such as records, rows, or objects.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of an account in aweb application that allows sharing of personal data. In someembodiments, account 200 is stored in account database 104. In theexample shown, an individual (e.g., John Doe) signs up for an account200 in the web application by specifying a username, password, securityquestion, and birth date. In some embodiments, terms of service (TOS)are displayed and a user must agree to the TOS in order to sign up foran account. In order to access the account in the web application, theusername and password must be specified. An account can own 0 or moreprofiles. Each profile is associated with a different individual orhuman being. For example, profiles 1-3 might be for John Doe, Mary Doe(his wife), and Bobby Doe (his son), respectively. In the example shown,N profiles are owned by account 200. Stated another way, account 200owns N profiles. In some embodiments, anyone with access to account 200has read and/or write access to (i.e., is able to or has permission toview and/or modify) any of profiles 1-N. In some embodiments, profiles1-N each contain data associated with an individual, such as name andbirthdate, and account 200 contains data that is not specific to anindividual, such as an account name (e.g., The Doe Family), an accountusername (e.g., doefamily) and password.

In some embodiments, a profile may be transferred from one account toanother. For example, Mary Doe divorces John Doe and would like to setup her own account to own her profile. As another example, Bobby Doegrows up (e.g., turns 18) and would like to have his profile owned byhis own account. In some embodiments, a profile can only be owned by oneaccount, so once Mary Doe's profile is owned by Mary Doe's account, thenit is no longer owned by John Doe's account. In some embodiments, a userlogs into the doefamily account to request the transfer and a user logsinto Mary Doe's account to accept the transfer. In some embodiments,when the user of the doefamily account requests the transfer, the usermust provide a password associated with the destination account and/oranswer a secret question.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of sharing ofpersonal data. In the example shown, account 302 owns profile 304 andaccount 306 owns profiles 308, 310, and 312. Profiles 308 and 312 areshared with or “shared to” account 302. Stated another way, sharing hasbeen established from profiles 308 and 312 to account 302. In otherwords, account 302 has read access to (e.g., is able to or haspermission to view) at least a subset of data associated with profiles308 and 312.

Profile 304 is shared with or “shared to” account 306. Stated anotherway, sharing has been established from profile 304 to account 306. Inother words, account 306 has read access to at least a subset of dataassociated with profile 304. In some embodiments, certain dataassociated with a profile is public data; that is, any other account hasread access to public data. In such embodiments, when a profile isshared to an account, it means that the account has read access to atleast a subset of nonpublic data associated with the profile.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forinitiating and establishing sharing. In some embodiments, process 400 orat least steps 412-416 are performed by application 102. In someembodiments, steps 402-410 are associated with a first account. Forexample, a user of the first account causes steps 402-410 to beperformed. In some embodiments, steps 418-424 are associated with asecond account. For example, a user of the second account causes steps418-424 to be performed.

In the example shown, at 402, a sharing invitation is opened. Forexample, a user logs into a first account and then opens an interfacefor a sharing invitation. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example ofan interface for a sharing invitation.

At 404, a recipient is specified. For example, the interface may providea place to enter a recipient. In FIG. 5, the user can enter or searchfor usernames using box 502. In some embodiments, an account user canspecify that the account username (e.g., doefamily) and/or account name(e.g., The Doe Family) is searchable. In some embodiments, names and/oremail addresses associated with profiles (e.g., John Doe, Mary Doe,and/or Bobby Doe) may be searchable. In some embodiments, the user cansearch based on other information, such as Current Location, type 1diabetes risk, etc. In some embodiments, in order for data to besearchable, the data must be made public.

In some embodiments, 404 is performed before 402. For example, a user'sprofile may be publicly represented on the website. For example, if auser has posted a message in a community thread, his or her profilepicture and public nickname will be displayed in that thread. Anotheruser may click on the picture or nickname to view the posting user'sprofile page. From this page, the other user may initiate a sharinginvitation by clicking on an invitation link. In this case, the invitinguser does not need to specify the invitee again in the invitation, as itis inherited from the profile page on which the invitation link wasclicked. An invitation link may also be found next to the posting user'spicture and nickname, in which case the inviting user can click directlyon that link to invite without first going to the invitee's profilepage.

Alternatively, a user's profile may be found and an invitation sent tothem through user search results.

At 406, profile(s) to share with the recipient are specified. Forexample, the profiles for John Doe and Mary Doe may be specified. Thenthe profile for Bobby Doe will not be shared. In FIG. 5, the profile IanMendel is the only profile associated with the account and it isselected as the profile to share. In some embodiments, if there is onlyone profile associated with the account, this step is skipped and theone profile is selected by default. In some embodiments, the sender canselect no profiles to share with the recipient.

At 408, a sharing level for each profile to share is specified. Asharing level indicates a subset of data associated with the profile toshare or to which to provide read access. A sharing level may beembodied in various ways. Specific data to share may be individuallyindicated, or groups of data to be shared may be indicated. In FIG. 5,two sharing levels may be indicated: “Basic” or “Complete”. When “Basic”is selected, then a smaller subset of data is shared than when“Complete” is selected. For example, “Basic” might include ancestry andgeneral comparison features, while “Complete” might include detailedhealth and traits articles and odds calculations, or full SNP-levelinformation in the form of a genome browser. In some embodiments, asharing level to request from the other account holder is alsospecified. The user may also request certain profiles from otheraccount. In some embodiments, the sharing level is implicitly symmetric,so that the sharing level from the sender to the recipient is the sameas the sharing level from the recipient to the sender. The sender mayalso attach a personal message to the invitation.

At 410, the sharing invitation is sent. For example, in FIG. 5, the“invite” button is selected. In some embodiments, the sharing invitationincludes the sharing levels specified at 408.

At 412, the sharing invitation is received from the sender and therecipient is notified. For example, the web application is notified thatthe sharing invitation was sent and sends an email to the recipient.

At 418, a notification of the sharing invitation is received. Forexample, the recipient receives an email message notifying him that asharing invitation has been received and to login to his account torespond to it.

At 420, profile(s) to share with the sender, if any, are specified. Forexample, the recipient logs into his account and an interface ispresented for responding to the invitation. FIG. 6 is a diagramillustrating an example of an interface for responding to a sharinginvitation. In this example, Alex Wong is the sender of the invitationand has requested sharing level Basic. The recipient can select one ormore profiles to share back with the sender. In some embodiments, therecipient can select no profiles to share back with the sender. In someembodiments, if there is only one profile associated with the account,this step is skipped and the one profile is selected by default.

At 422, a sharing level for each profile to share back with the senderis specified. In some embodiments, the recipient can specify a sharinglevel (e.g., Basic or Complete) for each profile to be shared back. (InFIG. 6, this option is not available.)

At 424, the sharing invitation is accepted. For example, in FIG. 6, the“OK” button is selected.

At 414, the sharing invitation acceptance is received from the recipientand the sender is notified. For example, the web application is notifiedthat the sharing invitation was accepted and sends an email to therecipient.

At 416, sharing is established. In some embodiments, before sharing canbe established, the sender reconfirms the request by logging into thesender's account and reconfirming the request. In some cases, the sendermay decide not to reconfirm the request, if, for example, at 420, thesender does not recognize the recipient, who may be a hacker.

In some embodiments, each account only has one profile, so steps 406 and420 are skipped. In some embodiments, sharing levels are preset andsteps 408 and 422 are skipped. In some embodiments, the sharing levelsare bidirectional (the same in both directions) so that whatever sharinglevel is specified at 408 is automatically the sharing level specifiedat 422. Thus, step 422 may be skipped and the sharing level preset tothe sharing level specified at 408.

Once sharing is established, sharing levels may change, sharing may beterminated, etc. In some embodiments, sharing is unilaterally stopped.In other words, when the sharing of a first account's profile to asecond account is terminated, then sharing from the second account'sprofile to the first account is automatically terminated. In someembodiments, either party can terminate sharing. In some embodiments,one or more levels of sharing may be upgraded and/or downgraded.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forestablishing sharing. In some embodiments, process 700 is used toperform steps 412-416. In the example shown, at 702, an indication ofone or more first account profiles associated with a first account toshare with a second account is received. For example, if a user isproviding information as in FIG. 4, the profile(s) specified at 406 arereceived. At 704, an indication of one or more second account profilesassociated with the second account to share with the first account isreceived. For example, the profile(s) specified at 420 are received. At706, for each first account profile to be shared, a first accountsharing level is determined. For example, the sharing level(s) specifiedat 408 are determined. At 708, for each second account profile to beshared, a second account sharing level is determined. For example, thesharing level(s) specified at 422 are determined. At 710, sharing isestablished from the one or more first account profiles to the secondaccount based at least in part on the first account profile sharinglevel(s). At 712, sharing from the one or more second account profilesto the first account is established based at least in part on the secondaccount profile sharing level(s). In some embodiments, steps 702-708result from what a user specifies in a web interface to a webapplication.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forestablishing sharing of multiple profiles. In some embodiments, process800 is used to perform steps 412-416. In the example shown, at 802, anindication of a plurality of first account profiles associated with afirst account to share with a second account is received. At 804,sharing from the plurality of first account profiles to the secondaccount is established. Sharing comprises the second account having readaccess to a subset of nonpublic data associated with the plurality offirst account profiles.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process ofestablishing one way or unidirectional sharing. In some embodiments,process 900 is used to perform steps 412-416. In the example shown, at902, an indication of a first account profile associated with a firstaccount to share with a second account is received. At 904, one waysharing from the first account profile to the second account isestablished. One way sharing means that the second account has readaccess to a subset of nonpublic data associated with the first accountprofile, but the first account does not have read access to nonpublicdata associated with the second account. For example, an individual mayshare the individual's data with a doctor, but the doctor does not needto share the doctor's data back to the individual.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forestablishing sharing using sharing level(s). In some embodiments,process 1000 is used to perform step 416. In the example shown, at 1002,an indication of a first account profile associated with a first accountto share with a second account is received. At 1004, a sharing level isdetermined. In some embodiments, the sharing level indicates a subset ofdata associated with the first account profile to share with the secondaccount. At 1006, sharing from the first account profile to the secondaccount is established based at least in part on the sharing level. Insome embodiments, sharing comprises the second account having readaccess to the subset of data indicated by the sharing level.

FIGS. 11A-11B are diagrams illustrating an embodiment of records invarious databases in a system for sharing genetic or other data. In theexample shown, account records 1101 and profile records 1102 are storedin an account database, such as account database 104. Phenotype records1104 are stored in a phenotype database, such as phenotype database 108.Genotype records 1106 are stored in a genotype database, such asgenotype database 108.

Referring to FIG. 2, in some embodiments, each account record 1101 is anexample of account 200 and each profile record 1102 is an example of oneof profiles 1-N.

In the example shown, each account record includes: “Account ID”,“Account Username”, “Password”, “Account Name”, “Account Email Address”,and “Shipping Address”. In some embodiments, “Account ID” uniquelyidentifies each account record. In some embodiments, the “Password” isencrypted using a hash function.

In some embodiments, profile records 1102 include data that can be usedto identify an individual. In some embodiments, each profile record 1102is associated with a different individual. An individual can be a personor in some embodiments, an animal, such as a pet. Each profile recordincludes: “Profile ID”, “Account ID”, “Profile Name”, “Profile EmailAddress”, “Birthdate”, “Birthplace”, “Current Location”, and “Ancestry”.In some embodiments, “Profile ID” uniquely identifies each profilerecord.

An account may own or be associated with one or more profile records. Inprofile records 1102, “Account ID” indicates the account that owns or isassociated with each profile record.

As shown, multiple profile records may have the same “Account ID” or beassociated with the same account. When a profile is transferred from oneaccount to another account, the “Account ID” of the profile is updatedto the new account's “Account ID”.

In some embodiments, account records contain data that is not specificto an individual. In some embodiments, profile records contain dataassociated with an individual. In some embodiments, each account recordalso includes a “Profiles” field. “Profiles” includes the Profile IDs ofthe profile records associated with the account.

Referring to FIG. 11B, in the example shown, each phenotype recordincludes: “Phenotype ID”, “Height”, “Weight”, “Eye Color”, and “HairColor”. Other examples of fields that may be included in a phenotyperecord include medical conditions, such as whether the individual hastype 1 diabetes, survey answers, or data collected from interactivetools. In some embodiments, phenotype records 1104 include dataassociated with the phenotype of an individual. In some embodiments,“Phenotype ID” uniquely identifies each phenotype record.

In the example shown, each genotype record includes: “Genotype ID”, “SNPData”, “Test Result 1”, and “Test Result 2”. In some embodiments, “SNPData” includes calls for various SNPs and confidence values for thecalls for the individual. “Test Result 1” and “Test Result 2” could beresults of a genetic test, such as whether the individual can tastebitterness in broccoli, or the individual's type 1 diabetes risk. Insome embodiments, “Genotype ID” uniquely identifies each genotyperecord.

In some embodiments, an application such as application 102 retrievesprofile records, phenotype records, and genotype records as needed inorder to provide genetic or other data to users over the Internet.

In some embodiments, some of the fields shown in profile records 1102are stored in separate records in a separate database. For example, the“Birthdate”, “Birthplace”, and “Ancestry” fields could be stored inbiographical records in a biographical database. The biographicalrecords might also include a social security number. This way, should ahacker obtain access to the profile records, he could not determinewhich profile records belong to which biographical records. This may beuseful to address concerns of identity theft.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a sharing table. Insome embodiments, a sharing table is used to store sharing informationfrom the various profiles to the various accounts in system 100. In theexample shown, sharing table 1200 includes three columns: “AccountShared To”, “Profile Shared From”, and “Sharing Level”. The first row ofsharing table 1200 indicates that the profile 10001 is shared to theaccount 50002 at a basic sharing level. As shown in FIG. 11A, profile10001 is associated with account 50001 having username familydoe.Account 50002 is associated with username boblee. Thus, a user ofaccount 50001 has allowed users of account 50002 read access to a subsetof nonpublic data in profile 10001. The subset is specified by thesharing level, in this case Basic. In some embodiments, the Basicsharing level means there is read access to a basic subset of nonpublicdata and the Extended sharing level means there is read access to anextended subset of nonpublic data, wherein the extended subset is asuperset of the basic subset.

In some embodiments, there are three or more sharing levels available.In some embodiments, the level of sharing can be individually configuredat a lower level of granularity. For example, a user may specificallyselect which data to which to allow read access.

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detailfor purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limitedto the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementingthe invention. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and notrestrictive.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for sharing data, comprising: receivinga request to share data from a first account to a second account;receiving an indication of a plurality of first account profilesassociated with the first account to share with the second account;establishing sharing from the plurality of first account profiles to thesecond account, wherein sharing comprises the second account having readaccess to a subset of nonpublic data associated with the plurality offirst account profiles.